Left 4 Love
by hannahsierraXO
Summary: Layla had a normal life. She went to a high prestige prep school, was girlfriend to the football star, and had her best friends. But her life gets turned upside down when the Infection hits. She will have to make important decisions. She'll learn who her real friends are and those who never were. ELLIS/OC Rated M for language and sexual content. First Fic
1. Intro

The first bell rang through the halls of Miami High School, announcing the start of the last day of school before Christmas break. The whole student body was happily talking about plans of visiting relatives and various vacation hot spots. I, Layla Morris, had, of course, no plans for Christmas except for "hanging" with my dad, Mark and his fortieth wife, Maria. I was _definitely _not looking forward to being with them, and it wasn't just because my dad was practically stuck with me and couldn't have loved me any less, but more of the fact Maria was literally five years older than me and I was sixteen. My dad was thirty-five, so I hope you see why it's not necessarily fun to be with them. I would more than likely end up cleaning the whole house after they got so drunk they couldn't even stand up. I was positively dreading it until my boyfriend, Zack Calem, came up to my locker after third period. He was head of the football team and totally gorgeous with jet black hair, tan skin, and green eyes all assembled on a perfect six foot two well toned body.

I bit my bottom lip and smiled seductively as he casually put his arm over my head. I raised my eyebrows at him in questioning.

"So, I was thinking you'd like to come over tonight and we could watch a movie or something, my parents will be gone," he said the last part with a mischievous glint in his eyes and a smirk. I knew that was indeed not what he wanted to do. He had been hell-bent on trying to take my virginity and woe to those that tried to stop him.

"Sure, I'd love to," I say with a hint of distance in my voice. I guessed tonight wouldn't be a bad night, right? After all, all my friends had and it _was_ a good way to get out of "family night".

Zack smiled and walked away with pride in his step. I rolled my eyes and smiled. Just then, my best friend, Leah, walked up with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Did he just ask you what I think he did?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, well I'm pretty sure, and it's none of your business," I said playfully.

"Yes it is! It's all my business! Layla Morris is going to lose her virginity!" she said so loudly everyone in the hallway had stopped to stare.

"Shhh!" I said.

She managed to squeak out sorry before I left for lunch.

Along the way, I ran into Ellis, the sweetest boy in school who was also my second best friend. He smiled and ran up to me as soon as he saw me.

"Hey Layla! You look so pretty today," he said in his southern drawl. I always thought that was so cute.

"Hey Ellis, wanna eat lunch with me?" I asked, but I knew his answer would be yes.

He nodded his head and started to talk extremely quickly about how he had gone to the shooting range with his best friend, Keith, in Georgia, and something else about cars when I noticed the tattoo on his arm.

"When did you get a tattoo?" I asked him.

"Oh this? I've had it for a while…." he said, looking at me funny.

"Oh, really? I guess I've never noticed…" I said, drifting off again. I had been doing that a lot today.

Ellis answered with a yeah and started to quickly ramble again. I just kept walking on, absorbing his voice. He was still rambling about something by the time we got our seats in the cafeteria. He kept smiling and looking at me funny too.

"What?" I finally asked.

"Oh, it's just that you're so pretty," he answered with a dreamy look in his eyes.

That compliment warmed me down to the core for some reason and I felt heat flood my cheeks. I quickly looked away so he wouldn't see. And before long he was rambling about shotguns and floods and what-not.

When the bell rang for the last couple of classes, Ellis gave me a little shake and jerked his head at all the students starting to pile out. I nodded and gave him a quick thanks and scurried off to Math.


	2. Getting Ready

When the final bell rang, I went to find Zack. He said to come over at around seven and I nodded in agreement and left to get my car.

I saw the bright cherry red Camaro from here and went to the parking lot. I had to shoo off some dead-beats before I could actually get in my car. When I turned the keys, the engine roared and I backed out and drove off to my house.

Along the way, I noticed several police cars zooming by to god knows where. There were also fire trucks and ambulances. I just shook it off and continued on home.

When I got home, there were no cars in the driveway and the house felt empty when I walked in. Not even maids were scurrying around.

"Dad? Maria? Anyone home? Hello?" I called out. There was no answer. I smiled and got all giddy. Maybe they left to go to someplace and just left me here, it seemed like something they'd do. I decided to go to the kitchen to get a drink and I saw a note. It was definitely my dad's handwriting and it wrote,

Dear Layla,

Maria and I are going to a hotel for Christmas and we won't be back until Christmas is over. The maids won't be there either, so I left the credit card there for food and drinks. You are not to spend it on anything that is not needed.

-Dad

I crumpled the note up and threw it away. To hell with that, just leaving me here in this boring house with nothing to do? I think it's time for a new wardrobe, and a T.V., and a new phone. A new purse would be nice too…..

But when I was thinking of calling Leah for a fashion trip, I realized it was already four. I zoomed up the expensive marble staircase and went to get ready. I would need to take a nice, relaxing bubbly bath, shave, do at least something with my hair, put on makeup, nail polish, the whole works.

After I was completely done with my makeover, I decided to look in the mirror. I was literally blown away. Sure, everybody said I was pretty, but I looked _gorgeous _right now. My long, thick, straight light brown hair went down slightly past my perky thirty-six C cup breasts. My well toned cheerleader body looked amazing in the tight black dress I was wearing. My long legs looked great in the black cork wedge heels. I had a great tan and I looked so dark. The heels added about four inches to my five-four frame. And last, but not least, my strong bright green eyes and eyebrows which dubbed me with the nickname of diva. And I could see why, I looked so sassy and mature. I loved it. I had never used this much makeup and it really showed. I smiled at myself in the mirror and smacked my glossed lips. It was going to be a fun night.


	3. Zack's House

I rang the doorbell to Zack's house and in almost no time he was there. He smiled at me and dramatically stepped aside and motioned me to come in. I smiled back and walked in.

Zack closed the door behind me and showed me the way to the living room, even though I knew perfectly well how to navigate my boyfriend's house. I sat down on the couch and he popped a movie in the DVD player. I really don't remember what it was, but it was pretty scary. There were several times when I would burrow my head in his chest and I could tell he enjoyed every minute of it.

The last time I went to dive my head in his shoulder this time, I noticed he was bleeding.

"Oh my god Zack! You're bleeding!" I nearly shouted at him.

He sighed and said, "I know, some crazy son-of-a-bitch bit me at the gas station, I literally had to peel him off and run to my car." He finished the last part with a shake of the head.

I furrowed my brows at him and ran my finger along his neck. I could definitely feel the teeth marks. I ran off and found him a bandage. I put it over his wound and he pulled me close for a full-blown make out session. He started to grab and feel me in places nobody ever had. And I had to say, it felt pretty good. I started to moan against his lips and he wrapped his arms around my waist and he asked if I wanted to go upstairs. I nodded and started to trace invisible patterns on his hard chest. He smirked the whole way he carried me upstairs.

He pushed his door open and dropped me on his bed. He turned around and locked the door behind him, all the while I was biting my lower lip. When he had made sure everything was in order, he started to kiss me again. We had been making out for about five minutes before he wailed out in pain. And then he buckled and was on his hands and knees on the ground beside the bed. He coughed up blood and crawled to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. I followed his trail of blood and pressed up against the door, I heard the unmistakable sound of a lock.

"Are you okay baby?" I asked him, worried to death. All I could hear was coughing and wails of pain. I had no idea what to do so I ran downstairs and grabbed the phone. I quickly dialed 911, but nothing happened, it was just a low buzz. Then I realized the phone wasn't working and I ran to get my cell phone. I dialed 911 and this time it went through, but all I could hear were sounds of grunting and pained screams. Then there was nothing and the power had gone out as well. I looked around in horror around me and bolted back up the stairs.

I ran to the bathroom and tried to knock down the door, but it wasn't any use. A five foot four girl who only weighed 110 pounds could not knock down a solid oak door. I started pounding on the door and calling out his name. When none of that worked, I started jiggling the knob and I apparently did something right because the door swung open before me. It was very dark and I couldn't hear anything so I ran downstairs again and flung open the drawers until I could find the flashlight.

When I finally got the damn thing to work, I finally came to my senses and realized that something was pounding on the window. I carefully walked over and in one smooth motion I flung the curtain back and turned the flashlight to see what was making the noise. The sight in front of me seemed to have come straight from a nightmare or a horror movie.

Before me stood a tall figure that was bent over and had blood all over his mouth. He had no hair and looked as if he had been _eaten _alive. He _growled_ at me and started to pound at the window again. That's when I realized he had no bottom jaw and he had rotten skin that looked slightly burned. He also had no hands, but just skeletal remains of arms. I was frozen in place and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I backed away and ran back up the stairs to the busted out bathroom. I heard pounding on the roof and freaked out again, but realized it was just the heavy rain from outside.

I shone the light in the bathroom, but found nothing but a huge pool of blood, and a trail that led down the hallway. I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed the trail. It led around the corner and out the open window. I pushed the window open slightly more and looked around beneath me. There were a few more of those…_things_ that looked quite a bit like Mr. No-Hands. I leaned out a bit more when I felt strong, bloody hands on my shoulders.

I screamed and turned around, finding myself face-to-face with Zack. He was very pale and seemed to almost fall over with every shaky breath he took.

"Y-you n-n-need-d to-o le-eave-e," he said shakily.

I took his face in my hands and felt tears running down my cheeks.

"No, you'll be fine, we just need to go to the hospital and get you checked out, you'll be fine, don't worry. You'll be fine!" I shouted the last part.

He wavered in front of me and managed a weak smile, but then turned dark again, "I don't want to h-hurt-t you, you h-have to lea-ave!"

I just shook my head and started crying again. I couldn't accept this. There was no way in hell my boyfriend was turning into one of those _things_! He fell before me and started to have uncontrollable spasms and he started to cough up blood up again. I knelt down next to him and put my hand on his cold back. He jerked at the touch, but calmed down again, to the point where he wasn't even breathing at times.

"I love y-you," were the last words I ever heard him say.

"I love you too, Zack," I answered sincerely. As I just knelt there, rubbing his back, he suddenly opened his eyes and lunged at me, growling and trying to bite and claw me. I screamed and panicked and hit him in the head with the flashlight. He was knocked off of me for a fraction of a second before he was at me again, shredding my dress to the point of no return. I screamed again and kicked him off, crawling away to the end of the hallway. I watched in horror as he crawled after me, in very uncontrolled movements and growls.

As I looked to my right, I saw my chance at escape. There was an umbrella rack and I grabbed one without thought and drove it clean through his eye. He let out an agonized scream and fell on top of me. He wasn't moving or growling anymore. I moved out from under him and that's when the feeling of realization hit me, I had just killed him. My boyfriend that I had loved since seventh grade, was now gone. He had his life stolen from him at such a young age at the hands of a damned _thing_! And I had to end it!

I crawled over in the corner and I brought my knees up to my chin and continued crying, until I had fallen asleep.


	4. Learning!

The sunlight that had filtered through the open window had woken me up from my dreamy coma. I smiled and yawned until I looked to my right. I literally felt my heart stop at what I was seeing.

Zack was covered in blood and he had an umbrella shoved in his right eye socket and that's when I remembered what had happened last night. I ran from the scene and flew down the stairs. Then I flung the front doors open.

I fell to my knees at the scenes around me. There were busted down windows, doors, and parts of some houses were no longer there. I looked over and felt like an elephant had rammed me in the chest. There were Zack's parents, strewn over their car, with those _things_ eating them. I felt the tears preparing to make another entrance, but they were apparently dry from all the crying of last night. I put my hand to my mouth to stifle any noise and I crept over to my car, which thankfully, was zombie-free. I quietly opened the door and revved the engine. I pulled out and hit the gas. I sped off to Leah's house, hoping she'd be okay. I was shaking all over, scared to death of the unknown. I kept finding myself wondering if it'd be best if I didn't know what happened. But I had to keep reminding myself, what if they needed help?

When I finally got there, I was saddened to see the same thing I saw in Zack's neighborhood. There were no zombies that I could see, so I walked up to her front door. I was about to reach for the door knob when I heard a horrible screech. And before I knew it, a hooded figure was on top of me, clawing the shit out of me. I screamed so loud, that some more zombies made an appearance. And a very confusing moment happened when the front door opened and I was dragged inside, not by Leah, but by her little sister, Carey.

She quickly closed the door behind me and led me up the stairs. I was relieved to see Leah and her dad sitting at a table, looking over a diagram of some sort. Carey cleared her throat and that got their attention. Leah jumped up and hugged me, but quickly pulled away when she saw the blood all over my chest.

"Excuse the blood, but something just attacked me out there," I said, hoping to reason with them.

Leah's dad was on me like a Doberman to a robber in two seconds. "Were you bitten?" He asked, his eyebrows raised in concern.

"No, but that thing out there just mauled the shit out of me," I answered.

"A Hunter," he mumbled to himself.

"A what?" I asked.

"It's nothing, come on," Leah said dragging me away. I watched as Leah's dad started making new charts and diagrams with a few other people I didn't know.

Leah led me to her room which had boards on the windows and a significant amount of supplies and weapons. "What was that thing?" I asked her.

"Just this thing that likes to jump and rip your guts out, no biggy," she answered sarcastically.

"So there are actual, like, _zombies_ out there? Is that even possible? I mean, I thought that only happened in the movies," I asked.

"Well, my dad and some of his friends and co-workers are trying to figure it out, they have all the types labeled so that we know what we're up against. Oh and we call them Infected, zombie just doesn't seem to fit them," she said.

"Well, what are the types?" I asked. I was rather curious about learning about these things.

"Well, Dad has pictures and stuff, but I can tell you about them. Well, the one that attacked is called a Hunter, they usually don't bite you, they just like shredding you to pieces. And you can _always _detect one, they make this banchee-like scream and if you have good eyes, you can see one prowling along and blending in with the shadows, and that's why we call them Hunters. Okay, so next are the Boomers. They're not too bad, just grotesquely obese with boils all over their face and body. They move pretty slowly and they're pretty easy to kill, but just don't kill them when they're close because they explode and if you're too close, well you'll be showered with this green goo and it attracts the other zombies like moths to a flame. They also throw up on you, so be sure to kill them before so. Okay, next up is the Jockey. We like to call them back humpers because they jump on your back and cover your face and just steer you around and claw your eyes out. They are relatively short, but really fast and will only let go if they are killed. Next is the Spitter. They have really long necks and as you can guess they spit this acid and it _burns _like hell. Then we have the Smokers. These guys are pretty dangerous because they have a long tongue and well, they basically shoot their tongue at you and it wraps around you and constricts you. Terribly uncomfortable and they are pretty scary to look at because they have huge boils on their face and smell like cigarette smoke, so it's pretty evident they were smokers before all this shit went down. Anyways, the last and strongest one of them is the Charger. They are really tall and strong. Bullets almost seem to bounce off of them. They have a long arm and a little arm that's useless. If they're not charging to grab you and pound you into the ground, they're just wailing on you with that big arm. They're pretty scary," Leah finally finished and looked at me expectantly. "Any questions?"

"Well, you said the Charger was the strongest one of _them_, what do you mean by _them_?" I asked.

"Oh, well there's this _huge thing_ called a Tank. They are like Chargers times ten. They are about thirty feet tall and are _really_ strong. I've even seen one rip a chunk out of the road and throw it. They're almost immune to bullets, the best way to kill one is to just throw a Molotov or something at them," she answered.

"You act like you've really seen these things. Like this has been going on for days. It just started last night," I said.

Leah looked at me gravely and said, "Layla, these things are seriously dangerous, I mean we could die! Going out there to observe was the only way to find out."

I processed that then asked her another question, "If you were just watching, then how did you know so much about how strong they were and how easy they were to kill. And about the Tank, where would you even get a Molotov?"

Leah just shook her head and answered, "Luckily, the sheriff was here and he had guns. We tried them out and thought we cleared the whole street so he went to get more guns from his car, but there was still some left Layla! They just ripped him apart and ate and ate and ate until there was nothing left! Now the guns we have have no ammo and I just have a feeling something bad's gonna happen and we'll have no way no defend ourselves. I mean we do know how to make Molotovs, but what good will that do?"

I could see her eyes had started to water and I started rubbing her back. I knew this was bad, but not that bad. To the point where there were _types _of those _things_? And just the thought that those things could _shred _a person? And Mr. Jenkins at that, a seventy-one year old man who protected this town with his life. I got a little teary-eyed myself.

Thankfully, Carey came back in and told us to come see her dad. We followed her through the glass ridden hallways that had hastily made makeshift barriers. As soon as we stepped foot in the room, I could literally feel the tension and depression rise up to my throat.

Leah's dad turned around and cleared his throat. For such an old man, he sure took care of himself. He was about fifty-two and still had muscles bigger than my head. He was about six feet and two inches tall. Oh and did I forget to mention his name was Randy? I think I did….. Anyway, he nodded to Carey and she scurried off somewhere.

Randy stuck his hand out for me to shake. I gratefully took it and nodded my head. He smiled and jerked his head over to the table. On the table there were numerous drawings of those things. I immediately recognized the Hunter and some others. I looked away when I came to the Boomer. Leah was right, those things were ugly.

"So, how did you get here?" Randy asked.

"I was at my boyfriend's house when all of this went down. He had been bitten or whatever you say by a thing at the gas station. It didn't work immediately, it took him maybe about three hours to turn. He died, but then changed and I had t-to kill him. Then in the morning I went to get my car and I saw his parents being _eaten _by them. I-I just ran to my car after seeing that" I said, my eyes tearing up.

Randy put his massive hand on my shoulder and said, "We've all had to do hard things, and I'm sorry for your loss, but could you answer some questions for us?" I nodded and he rattled away, "Was your boyfriend a special infected?"

I shook my head and answered, "No, he looked nothing like the specials. And his name is Zack."

"Zack Calem?" I nodded. He shook his head and said, "What a damn shame. Well, did he have any way of controlling himself when he turned?"

"No, his body was jerking everywhere and he kept _growling _at me," I replied.

"Ok, do you know how to shoot a gun?" he asked.

"I can handle myself pretty well, my mom taught me how to shoot and a friend told me a lot about guns," I replied.

"Who is this friend?" Randy asked suspiciously.

"His name's Ellis. I'm not even sure if he made it," I said, drifting off. Why did I never even think if Ellis was okay? But as soon as that thought came into mind, I knew why. I was afraid of the answer. Ellis was so sweet and fun, I doubt if he'd even know to kill those things, he'd probably even try to help them.

Randy nodded and turned around to attend back to his work. I just stood there, unable to get Ellis off my mind.


	5. I Promise

It had been a week since the Infection. I still didn't know about Ellis and all I did was just sit there, thinking about him. Now that I think about it, I wish I would've treated him better. I guess I never paid much attention, but Leah told me had a crush on me. I would've never guessed. I mean, he did say I was pretty almost every day, but I thought it was just in a friendly manner.

Now he may very well be dead. Just the thought of him being dead was equivalent to being shot in the chest. I cried most days, sometimes even thinking about Maria and Dad. Leah would give me food, but I almost never finished it. I always ended up giving the last of it to Madame Yvonna, Leah's neighbor. But one day that all changed.

Randy came in and told me to come downstairs. He had a grave look on his face. I nodded and followed him downstairs. The "Team" as they called them was standing there, empty-handed. They were in charge of getting food from the next door houses and killing some of the Infected.

"All of the food's gone! We scoured everywhere and the only way to get some more is to go to the other neighborhoods and god knows how badly infected they are," the leader, Lee, said.

"We can't leave the house, it'd be suicidal, Lee. There has to be another way," Randy said.

"Well then you can tell them how they will die of starvation. I'm leaving this so-called "group" and looking for some real help. While you stay here "safe", I'm gonna be safe in a helicopter, laughing as you guys get killed by that Tank!" Lee screamed.

"Shut the hell up! If the group hears you, it will be on your conscience! Now, if you will stop with the rumors about that damn Tank, it would be much appreciated," Randy said.

Lee let out a deranged laugh, "You think there isn't one, but you're not out there every day, risking your ass for food for people you don't even know!"

"We act in the best interest for _everyone_! Not to help you get out of here. There is shelter here and there are not a lot of Infected, I am perfectly fine staying here with my family," Randy said.

"Oh, I bet you don't know about the evacuation station, now do ya?" Lee said, still looking crazy.

"What?" Randy asked, suddenly curious.

"Yep, the state laid them out for everyone, and if you get there, the helicopters will take you to a real safe place, away from this hell hole," Lee said, seeming to calm down.

Randy looked at Carey and Leah, then at me. He sighed and looked back at Lee. "I want you to take them," He said. Then all hell broke loose.

"What?! No Dad! We're not leaving you!" Carey and Leah said in unison.

Randy ignored them and turned to look at Lee, "Please Lee. I want them to be safe. Away from all of this. I need you to."

Lee smirked and said, "Hell I ain't!"

Randy looked like someone had slapped him in the face. "And why not, Lee? I took you in when _you _needed help. It's not like they can't be of use. All I'm asking is for you to make sure they get to the helicopter safe and sound, then you can forget you owe me anything."

"And why the hell would I owe you anything?" Lee spit at his feet.

"Because I helped you when that Boomer exploded on you, you would've been fucking eaten alive!" Randy said, his voice escalated in anger.

Lee was quiet for a second then answered, "We leave at dawn tomorrow morning." And with that he walked away.

I turned to him and asked, "And why won't you come with us?"

He smiled humbly and leaned in and whispered so his daughters couldn't hear him, "If I'm going to die, I'd rather do it in the house my grandpa built. And I wouldn't want my daughters to see." He looked at them crying and said again, "Make sure that creep keeps his hands off of them."

I nodded in understanding and I turned around to go to my favorite place, the roof. When I got there, night had just fallen. I looked around me and pulled out my diary and wrote,

Dear Diary,

It's been eight days. Today Randy got in another fight. I'm still worried to death about Ellis, but I'd rather not know what happened to him. Anyway, Lee has agreed to take Carey and Leah to an evacuation station where they'll be saved and brought to a safe place. I'm just coming along for the ride and protecting them. It still worries me that Lee will try something because I wasn't promised safety. I'm a realistic person and this doesn't sit right with me. I don't entirely trust Lee, but I guess I'll give it a shot. We leave at dawn. Please keep us safe, God.

I wasn't a really religious person, but I was praying because I hadn't even stepped a foot outside of this place since I got here.


	6. Stepping Out and Stupid Lee

I put on Leah's black tank top with a belt around my black jeans. I also had black leather boots on because believe it or not, I prefer heels over flats any day. I looked at myself in the mirror and started hacking at my outfit with a knife so it didn't seem so hot. I let my hair hang loosely and decided to cut it a bit with the pair of scissors I found in the kitchen. I cut it to the point where it hung a little past my shoulders. I trimmed my bangs a little so I could see a little better and nodded at my reflection. I walked down the stairs where Leah, Carey, Randy, Lee, and Lee's brother, Frank were. Randy kissed his daughters' heads and pat them on their shoulders and wished them luck and told them he'd be there as soon as he could. Carey believed him, but Leah's face was set and cold. Then Randy came over and wished me luck. I nodded and walked over to Leah and Carey.

"Well, you look good in my outfit," Leah said. I thanked her and turned around to look at Lee and Frank. Randy was talking to them with a serious face and I already knew what they were talking about. I took a deep breath and walked over to them also. Frank and Lee looked at me and nodded. Nobody seemed to be too talkative tonight.

After a while, we were finally ready to go. I had my mom's wedding ring and my knife. Along with the knife were two pistols. I knew it wasn't much, but it was better than Carey and Leah's measly baseball bats. I knew the only reason I got the guns was because of my talent of shooting.

About ten steps out, we ran into a single Infected and I was immediately suspicious. I quickly looked at Lee, who was silently agreed to be our leader, and he jerked his head at it and then looked at me. I took out my knife and then threw it at its head. Bullseye.

Lee smiled at me and started to crouch towards the stop sign. Frank followed after and I was after him, with Leah and Carey behind me. I heard the undeniable cough of a Smoker and I called out to Lee.

"Could you be quiet?" he hissed back.

"Smoker!" I said as quietly as I could. Lee stopped dead in his tracks and looked around.

"Where?" he asked cautiously.

"On top of 2214," I addressed the house number. He looked around frantically but he finally settled on 2214. He took his gun out, but Frank stopped him.

"What the hell are you doing, trying to get us killed?" Frank nearly shouted.

"What the fuck do you mean?" Lee snapped back.

"Loud noise attracts these things, didn't you know that?" Franks replied.

"Of course, that's why I told Layla to take that one out with her knife. She can't kill that thing with a knife, it's nearly a hundred feet away!" Lee said loudly.

"Then just leave it there, it's too risky Lee, the shot could attract a whole horde of those things," Frank tried to reason with him, but of course Lee's cockiness got in the way of everything and he thought he could make the shot, so he fired.

It missed, of course. I heard what sounded like a hundred voices screaming. My heart raced and I had only one instinct: run.

I took off without them and scaled the side of a house. I felt something grab my ankle and I screamed and kicked. I heard Frank yelp and mumbled a quick sorry and kept climbing. My heart felt like a caged bird and I was so frantic I bet I climbed that house in less than a few seconds. When I got to the top of the roof, I could see a huge mob of those things and regret welled up inside me. On the ground was one screaming Carey, being carried away by the Smoker.

On my right I heard a high pitched scream and saw Lee being pounded into the ground at the hands of a Charger. I didn't know who to pick. My mind was hazing over, I couldn't think straight. I could only hear growls and screams and the sound of claws ripping through flesh. I started to get dizzy. But then a reassuring hand was on my shoulder. It was Frank.

"You get the girl, I'll get Lee!" He had to shout over the noise those things were making. I nodded and went into action. I started firing into the moving mass of Infected beneath me. I saw some fall, but there were just too many, I couldn't handle this. I was beginning to get dizzy again when I heard an earsplitting scream. I looked up and there was Carey, at the Smoker's grasp. Just a foot away.

I couldn't let her die! I jumped off the roof and ignored the sickly sound my legs made when I connected with the asphalt. I ran up to Carey and took my knife out. I cut the thing's tongue off and started stabbing it. When it died, it seemed to explode into a cloud of smoke and I couldn't see. That was something Leah had forgotten to mention.

After all of my adrenaline was gone, I realized it had turned into a warzone around me. There were bullets flying everywhere around me and something got caught up in my throat. I swallowed it down, whatever it was, and looked around at my "team". I saw that Lee had been rescued and Leah was just standing there, cowering behind Lee. I rolled my eyes and looked at Carey.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am now. Thanks a lot Layla," Carey said appreciatively. I nodded at her and crouched down low to improve my accuracy. I started to shoot at the Infected and soon enough they were all gone. Better said than done, I wobbled weakly over to Lee.

"What the hell were you thinking Lee, you should've known better, we could've all died and we've barely stepped foot out of the house!" I yelled at him.

He answered angrily, "I don't remember ever declaring you leader. I f I was going to shoot that damn thing, then I would've. I just couldn't focus because of you!"

"How is this _my _fault! You're the one who thinks he's so awesome, but really you're just an arrogant, ungrateful, bipolar bastard!" I shouted back.

He looked slightly taken aback, but collected himself and said simply, "Leave."

"What do you mean, "Leave"? You promised Randy!" I said frantically.

He smirked and replied, "I did promise him safety to _these _two girls." He motioned to Leah and Carey.

"And I promised him I'd protect them from you!" I said.

"Well that's just too fucking bad, you ain't comin' with us if you can't behave," he spat at me.

"Fine, I'm sorry Lee. Just please don't kick me out," I lied.

"Okay, but if you ever berate me again, I won't just kick you out," he said with a mischievous smirk. I nodded and he motioned to the street and we all followed. I guess you can already tell that this group won't last long. I still wondered about Ellis too.


	7. Kicked Out

Two weeks later we were still milling around. Lee and I hadn't had another power struggle since the first night, but he had done some other stupid stuff too. It took a lot of my self-control not to snap on him. I was rather tired of him and Leah too.

They had grown to be girlfriend and boyfriend and Leah just wasn't herself anymore. She always had a cocky air about her and didn't seem to even care for Carey anymore. Through this whole "adventure" she hadn't even asked if Carey was okay.

We also lost Frank. It was a nasty accident involving a Spitter and a Hunter. I'm sure you get the picture. So it was usually just Carey and me trailing after the "lovebirds". I had grown to be very impatient and snappy so I didn't even talk to anyone because I knew it would lead to a fight. That was, until the day I was officially kicked out of the group.

Lee had been trying to open a can of beans to cook over the fire he had finally started and couldn't get the can open.

"Can't you do anything?" I snapped at him.

"And like you can do any better, bitch," he growled.

I did a double-take. He had definitely just growled at me. I looked closely and saw a small wound that was oozing blood. I opened my eyes farther to get a closer look when he struck me. I yelped out in pain and I could feel my eyes starting to water.

"You're bitten!" I exclaimed. That woke up Carey and Leah.

"Shut the fuck up bitch!" Lee shouted in pure rage. He started walking towards me but I scrambled away and was pressed up against the wall. He walked over to the point where he was touching distance.

"You don't know anything, so don't get me started on how much I already despise your sassy ass. I only kept you this long because you're a good shot, but you should leave, we don't need you anymore," he said.

I just pushed him away and grabbed my guns, ring, knife, ammo, pills, and some food. I spit on him and walked away before he could do anything, like bite me. I never looked back on them.


	8. Chargers Suck and Christmas

I was so tired and cold and hungry. It had been three weeks since I left the group and the food had quickly diminished. It was pouring rain and it was Christmas. The only present I wanted was Ellis. I missed him so much. His bright personality, his stories, and his voice. And the more I thought about it, he wasn't that bad looking either. Actually, you could say I had developed a crush on him.

After stumbling around for a few hours, I ran into a sign that said "Evacuation Station". My spirits soared and I went as fast as I could to the station. I went up the blood ridden stairs to the roof, following the signs.

When I finally got to the top, there was nothing there. I called out to see if anybody was there, but there was no answer. I freaked out when I felt the wind get knocked out of me. I looked to my right and saw the ugly, puny face of a Charger. It eventually stopped carrying me and just started pounding me into the ground. I screamed and screamed out in pain, even though I knew nobody would save me. I eventually even started crying.

I could feel the world seemingly starting to fall into black. I went into unconsciousness when I could hear faint voices and gunfire. Then I felt strong, callused hands lift me up and take me somewhere.


	9. Someone Unexpected

I could hear hushed voices somewhere overhead and could feel the eyes of someone looking at me. When I opened my eyes there was a woman standing over me. She had kind brown eyes and black hair. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with a belt around her waist. She also had jeans and boots.

"Hey sweetie, my name's Rochelle and we'll take care of you, okay?" The woman named Rochelle said. I could hear men's voices arguing in the background and Rochelle said, "Don't worry about the boys, they're just a little iffy on the whole new person thing, but I'm sure they'll lighten up," she said. I nodded.

She seemed to be putting some adhesive bandages on my body and she handed me some pills.

"Here, take these. I'm sure you're hurtin' pretty badly," She said. I took the pills and just closed my eyes and slept. I hadn't slept in almost four days and laying on this table was much better than the wet, muddy ground outside.

When I woke up, Rochelle was sleeping in a chair beside me. I looked around and noticed another person there, a man who looked a bit older. He was slightly overweight and had a shotgun slugged over his shoulder. He was wearing what looked like a team t-shirt of some sort and khakis with loafers. He was snoring slightly and he made me feel safe for some reason.

I could still hear men arguing upstairs and it was rather unsettling. I looked outside and saw that it was pitch black outside, probably around midnight. God may not have answered my wish for Ellis, but at least I had these new people, who seemed to be a lot nicer than that asshole Lee and fake Leah. Even though Leah could probably care less that I was gone, I was still worried for her and Carey. I was almost positive that Lee had been bitten. I just wished that they had enough sense to leave him. Looking outside that window, I started to get tired again so I decided to sleep again.

When I woke up for the second time, Rochelle and the other man were bustling around, gathering supplies. Rochelle was the first to see me awake and asked how I was feeling. I said I felt fine and she nodded. With that, the man turned around and offered a big, bandaged hand to me.

I took it and he said, "I'm glad you're feeling better. They call me Coach, what's your name?"

"Nice to meet you Coach, name's Layla," I answered with a smile, trying to return his warm greeting.

He smiled back and said, "Nick'll be down here soon to meet ya." I nodded and swung my legs over the table and just sat there, trying to shake the sleepiness off.

"So where are we?" I asked.

Rochelle answered, "In one of the rooms of the hotel."

"They left us, didn't they?" I asked.

She nodded sadly and said, "We're just lucky to be here at all. Hee-Haw almost got himself killed trying to help you."

I smiled and said, "Hee-Haw?"

Rochelle smiled back and laughed, "Yep, that's what we call him. You'll love him, he's such a sweetie."

I answered, "I'm sure I will." Rochelle smiled and started bustling around again. I got up and started to wobble-walk around. I felt much stronger than I had in a long time and well rested.

"Do you guys have any food? I haven't eaten in over a week," I asked.

Rochelle grabbed some meat, cheese, and bread from her bag and handed them to me. She then said, "Have at it, I'm sure you're starving. Just don't eat too fast or you'll get a stomach ache."

I loved how she talked to me like a child, it's something my mom used to do with me all the time. "Thanks," I answered. She smiled and walked away.

Coach came up to me and asked, "Mind if I have some? Man's gotta eat."

I laughed and handed him some. "Here," I said.

"Thanks, I'm starving," he said gratefully. I smiled at him and we started talking about our background. I learned that he was from Savannah and he was a Gym teacher at a high school. We were in mid-conversation when a man in a white expensive suit came to us.

He seemed to be examining me and then he said, "Name's Nick. And you are?"

"Layla," I answered.

He was still looking at me and making me feel rather uncomfortable. I noticed his shockingly green eyes that looked just like mine and his curly brown hair. He also had several rings and a gold chain around his neck. He had a blue shirt under his white suit.

He looked at Coach and Rochelle and then back at me. His face finally cracked into a smile and he said, "Awe, what the hell. Welcome to the family."

A smile lit up my face and nodded feverishly. "Thank you! It's so hard out there, being alone," I said.

Nick said, "You're lucky to be immune."

Shock rang through my body. I'm immune? What did that even mean? "What? How do you even know that if I don't?" I asked curiously.

"Well, you've obviously been in contact with those things and so have we. You should be immune," Nick explained.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Okay, well I don't believe I've met all of you guys. Rochelle said there was somebody else," I said.

"Oh yeah, how could we forget about Hee-Haw?" He smiled and called his name telling him to meet the newest edition to the family. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs rather quickly and when the door flew open, I fainted. It was Ellis.


	10. Tank of Fire

When I woke up, Ellis was standing over me and I grabbed his face in my hands, feeling him to make sure he was actually there.

He smiled and said, "Hey Layla."

I laughed hysterically and said, "Hey Hee-Haw."

He rolled his eyes and said, "Please don't call me that, the others already do." And that's when I remembered my little scene and everybody else. I looked around and they all looked really confused mixed with worried faces.

"Guys, this is Layla. We were best friends in school," Ellis said. I smiled at the fact he called us best friends and the others nodded.

"We better get going before the hordes find us," Nick said.

We all nodded and we followed him through the door and down the stairs to the suspiciously empty street.

"Shit, we have to open that gate to get out of here. Be ready, I'm sure those bastards will come running to the sound of the bell," Nick said.

"I'll open the gate, you guys get ready," Ellis said. We nodded and I scurried of to the nearest gas track. It had a convenient ladder and I scaled it and was ready. I pulled my guns out and was ready. Ellis pulled the lever and the bell sounded off. I heard the same wail of voices as I did the first night I left the house.

Ellis had barely climbed the same ladder I had by the time hundreds of the Infected came running in, but that wasn't just it. It seemed as though the whole place was shaking and I heard a roar. I looked at Ellis and he screamed, "Tank!"

The others readied themselves and got all of their automatic rifles and such. I grabbed a Molotov bottle out of my pack. I asked Ellis if he had a match and then I let it and threw it at the Tank. I watched in horror as the huge traveling fire ball was getting dangerously close to my highly flammable truck. Thankfully, it fell to its knees from all of the hellfire from the others. Luckily, the Tank had also set all the other Infected on fire also.

Looking at all the carnage around us, we leapt down from our perches and run for the gate. We made it to a car which thankfully still had keys in the ignition. I saw more Infected running our way so we jumped in the car and Coach revved the engine and we sped off.

My heart was racing in my chest and I put my head in my hands and let out a shaky breath. Ellis started reassuringly rubbing my back and smiled at me.

"Don't worry, we're gonna go to another hotel or some safe house and we'll be just fine," He said. I smiled at him and nodded. I was still noticeably shaking.

"Why don't you rest up a bit, it'll probably be a long drive," Coach called out to us. We all nodded in agreement and I rested my hand on Ellis' strong mechanic's shoulder


	11. First Time

When I woke up, we were at a motel that was apparently closed due to the sickness. The drive had taken nearly three days and I was eager to stretch my legs and sleep in an actual bed.

As soon as we stepped out of the car, we were mobbed by the Infected and I took my knife out and started stabbing them. Ellis grabbed an axe and started hacking at them, making sure I was safe. The Infection seemed to change Ellis a little, giving him more of an aggressive edge, but he was still the same old Ellis considering what he had been through.

We made our way to a decently clean room that still had the doors and windows intact and Coach started making out arrangements. At first I thought Nick was the leader, but it was now clear to me that Coach was.

I was relieved to find out that Ellis and I had a room together. I could finally talk to him one-on-one. Ellis smiled at me and motioned to the door. Coach said if any of us need help, to gather at the steps. We all agreed and went to our rooms.

Ellis almost immediately took his shirt off and went to the bathroom. Luckily, there was clean water left in the sink and we took turns washing up in the sink and I had to stay Ellis had a _great _body. All the while, he was talking about how Keith had gotten away on one of the helicopters and something about having to kill his whole family. I was extremely sad for him, but he said in times like this, it doesn't help to be sad. I nodded.

"So what did you have to do?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and decided if I was going to tell anyone else about Zack, it would be Ellis. "I h-had to kill him with a damn umbrella. He turned when I was at his house," I told him, trying to keep the tears down.

Ellis got close to my face and said, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me anymore." I nodded and leaned in a little closer. Ellis returned the move and kissed me on the lips. In that kiss was something I never got when I kissed Zack: the feeling of unconditional love. Ellis brought his hands up my sides and started to kiss me a little harder.

These kisses were definitely the best I have ever had. I took his hat off and started running my hand through his soft hair. When he released from the kiss, I took in a deep breath and so did he.

"Too much?" he asked.

"No," I said breathlessly. He smiled and continued to touch me in ways Zack never had. I started to moan slightly against his lips. I felt him smile against my lips and he pulled me closer to him and I bit down on his bottom lip. He pulled away and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" I asked, a little worried.

"No, no. It's fine," Ellis said warmly. I nodded and continued to kiss him. He started to move his hand up my leg and that's when I remembered I was half naked. I blushed slightly and looked at him. I really didn't mean to take it this far, but Ellis was moving rather quickly, starting to place needy kisses along my mouth and neck. My breath hitched in my throat when he put his hand over my breast.

"I take it you've never done this before," Ellis said, pulling away slightly.

I shook my head and said, "No, Zack and I never really got this far." He nodded and started to walk away. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Oh, just to the bed, why? I sort of wanted to clean up my gun," He said, starting to drift off with thoughts of his gun.

"Well, I thought we were sort of in the middle of something," I said, a little embarrassed.

"Oh, well I wasn't sure if you wanted to anymore," Ellis said.

"Well, I really didn't mean to take it that far, but it's not like it wasn't enjoyable," I said, sitting down next to him on the bed.

He smiled sheepishly and said, "You sure? I mean, we don't have to."

I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded, but then said, "On one condition." He nodded and looked into my eyes. "You have to take it slow, I'm a little, well, nervous," I said, hoping I didn't look stupid.

Ellis nodded in understanding and said, "Of course." And with that, I took a deep breath and started kissing him. He dropped his gun on the side of the bed and started to lean back. I followed him until I realized I was laying on top of him. He smiled at me and started run his hand up my back. Then he started to turn so that I was under him and he ran his hand up my back.

I got a little nervous when he came to my bra strap. He asked if I was okay with it and I nodded. He unhooked and continued kissing me. "At least he was taking it slow," I thought. I ran my hand up his arm and smiled at him. He smiled back and started to kiss my chest and I had to admit, this felt pretty good.

I started to moan when he felt my breasts and started to kiss me everywhere. I arched my back and met his abdomen. I wrapped my legs around his middle and kept arching my back.

When he was done paying attention to my breasts, he started to hiss my flat, firm stomach. I was still arching my back when he slid my underwear down. That was like a red flag and I immediately sat straight up.

I saw him preparing and he looked at me. "Are you sure?" He asked again. I just nodded and looked at him. "Now, this shouldn't hurt. I'll go real slow and be gentle, okay?" I nodded again and I took a breath.

I could definitely tell when he entered me. It did hurt, but Ellis helped by the fact he was going slowly. I _whined _when he completely entered me and it hurt so badly I started to get a little dizzy.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, but I needed to get that part over with, it shouldn't hurt as badly now," Ellis said, looking sorry. I just nodded and did my best not to cry out or scream.

After about four more thrusts, it finally started to feel better. And a few thrusts later, it even started to feel _good_. I started to moan in pleasure and Ellis picked up the speed. A few minutes later, Ellis collapsed by my side. He was breathing heavily.

"It didn't hurt did it?" Ellis asked.

I shook my head and answered, "Well, at first it did, but it started to feel good after a while."

He nodded and said, "Good." I nodded and rolled over and got up. I put my clothes back on and tossed Ellis his.

"Here, in case we have to leave quickly, I'd rather leave with some clothes on," I told him. He smiled and got dressed.

"Well, I'm gonna get workin' on my gun," He said, sitting down to attend to his gun. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head against his shoulder. "Makes it kinda hard to focus, wouldn't ya agree?" Ellis said with a smile on his face.

"Too bad," I told him playfully. He just smiled back and started to strip down the shotgun. I watched his skilled mechanic's hands as he started to reload the gun and shine it up when out of nowhere I heard the unmistakable screech of a Hunter. "Ellis! A Hunter's somewhere nearby," I said frantically.

I could feel his strong muscles clench as he grabbed his gun and motioned for me to follow him out the door. Beneath us I saw another horde and several of the Special Infected were amongst them. They were all just milling around and some would occasionally get in fights about who got the left overs. You could probably guess that the Chargers did.

We crouch-walked over to Coach's room and knocked. He was outside in a fraction of a second and he put his finger to his lips and motioned to meet him at the stairs. I decided to get Rochelle while Ellis got Nick.

When we were all gathered up, we made a run for the highway. I had never run so fast in my life and all of the days without sleep and food evidently caught up with me. I stumbled a few times, but Coach was right behind me to pick me back up again. I could still hear the screeches of the Hunters in the distance.


	12. Poor Keith

We ended up somewhere outside of a major city, but I couldn't tell which one. It was a little eerie with the fact of all the cars that were there, driverless and the doors were open from the obvious to get away from the Infected.

After wandering around for a while, Coach found a room with a sign outside that had a plus sign on a house. Coach said they were called safe houses and that we should stay there for the night. Everyone agreed and we slept there for the night.

I was curled up in a ball next to Ellis when Nick woke everybody up. He said we had to get moving because the Infected were starting to pound on the door and while everyone else was getting ready, I decided to take a look at the writing on the wall. And I desperately wish I hadn't.

There were messages of parents who promised to return, but never would. Friends who had promised to get help, but one message stood out in particular. It was from Keith and wrote:

"Going to find the helicopter. If I don't come back, I'm dead."

I made a self-promise to not show or tell Ellis, it would break his heart. For some reason I just knew Keith didn't make it and Ellis had tried to put it behind him by believing he had made it. I tiered up a little bit and went to find Ellis and the others.

We had barely stepped foot out when we were mobbed by the Infected. I took out my knife and started stabbing, killing anything that was attacking me. Ellis was by my side with his big axe and Coach was ripping them apart with his chainsaw. Nick and Rochelle were shooting them with their pistols when I heard what sounded like burping and vomiting at the same time. I looked over and saw a nasty Boomer with no eyes waddling full speed for Coach. I took my pistols out and started at its pus filled boils. It exploded and the Infected went to eat the two little legs that remained. I never even thought that they would eat each other. With them occupied, we took off full speed for the barns.

Once we were in the barns, we were overpowered with the smell of rotting carcasses. Inside there were numerous dead cows in pens. I felt sorry for the helpless cows, but quickly shook it off and followed Nick.

We eventually got to a huge rollercoaster. Coach thought it'd be a great idea to navigate the rollercoaster and get to the other side, so we pulled to alarm for the ride to start. The little safety gate swung open and we ran full speed to the other side, hearing the cries of the demented hordes not far from us. However, our journey was quickly ended when a huge Tank crushed Rochelle.


	13. Nick!

We were trapped and Rochelle was surely dead. The Tank was in front of us, growling and roaring. The hordes were behind us surely along with some Special Infected. In that situation I panicked and threw a Molotov at the Tank. It roared in pain and charged at us. The whole rollercoaster caught on fire, along with the Infected. We ran for the now open place in front of us. However, before we left, I checked Rochelle. She was still breathing, but barely. I felt tears slide down my cheek as Nick pulled me away from her, saying she wouldn't make it. Even though I had just met here, I was deeply saddened by her "death", but I had no time to even mourn her because Nick was dragging us away from her and to the safe house. Once inside, I blew up in anger and targeted Nick.

"What the fuck Nick! We could have _saved _her, but no! You had to leave her to die to those awful things out there. Where's your empathy?" I shouted in rage at him.

"How are you blaming this on me? _You _would've been killed if I left you there. She would've died anyway, I saw where that Tank crushed her!" Nick shouted back.

I thought about his words and realized that some of them were true. "That still doesn't give you an excuse to leave another _human being _out there! She would've saved you Nick!" I told him.

He just rolled his eyes and said, "Sweetheart, it doesn't work that way. Yes, you should think about your friends, but it's much more important to care for _yourself _first, not some low-level reporter that would've died anyway!"

"Don't you dare berate her! You're a damn con-artist, are you saying that's better than that?" I yelled.

"Fuck you," Nick said, nudging me with his pistol. I just stood back with my arms crossed, glaring at the wall, which had more depressing messages on it. Nick left to another room and Coach came up to me.

"Don't worry about him, he's just really stressed," Coach said.

"I know, but he let Rochelle _die_, Coach," I replied.

He nodded and had a sad look about his face. "I think she would've died anyway, Layla," He said.

"I know, but it's just so sad," I answered.

"I hear ya, I hear ya," Coach said. I just nodded and went to go take a nap, which didn't last long because I could only focus on the ear-splitting scream Rochelle made before she died. I brushed the tears from my eyes and sobbed quietly into my hands.


	14. Goodbyes

We were on the road again the next four weeks. Ellis and I were still "together", but he had been distant ever since Rochelle's death. Nick was still sour and mean, but I tried to be nice. He was sometimes nice back, or he just didn't answer me. Even Coach's high spirits had been dampened.

When we finally got to Savannah, Coach's spirits soared, but then were quickly gone again as he realized Savannah wasn't any better than Miami. After sifting through the carnage, Coach finally spoke.

"I think it'd be best if I left, I gotta find home," Coach said, drifting off and looking into the distance.

Nick immediately said, "No Coach, you're comin' with us, there's no way we're leaving you here to die."

Coach laughed lightly and said, "Ain't nothin' gonna take me down Nick. I'll be just fine stayin' here."

Then I spoke up, "If it's for the best Coach, I wish you good luck. It's been a great run."

He laughed again and said, "Damn right it's been. Looks like this is good bye guys, best of luck to ya." And with that Coach left, never looking back. I never saw him again.

Nick turned to Ellis and me and said, "I think it's time I leave then too."

"What? No Nick. You can't just leave. We need each other," Ellis finally said.

"Look Ellis, this group was only temporary. Coach was right, it has been a great ride, but that's all it was. I think it best I leave. And besides, I have to go to Vegas and see if my daughter's okay," Nick said.

"You have a daughter?" I asked him.

"Yeah, she's about twenty now. I haven't always been there, but," He said, drifting off.

"Yeah, I understand," I told him. He nodded and started to walk away. "Good luck, Nick," I said. And I meant that. We might not have always gotten along, but he was the only real sane one in our group. He always made good decisions and led us in the right direction, the best choices for our group. Now that I think about it, Nick might've been the leader all along. I never saw him again either.


	15. Saved?

I turned to Ellis and asked, "What now?"

He shrugged and said, "Let's try to find that helicopter station." I nodded and we started walking off towards the city.

We eventually came to a place that said "Evacuation Station" on it. We followed the signs to the big wooden door at the top floor, leading to the roof. We both took a deep breath and looked at each other. We exchanged nods and got our guns out.

As soon as we opened the door we were overwhelmed by people. They had guns at our heads and told us to put our hands up. I swallowed and slowly put my hands up.

The man in the front barked out a question, "Have you been bitten?"

Ellis spoke before me, "No, we're immune. We've been in contact with them for over two months and we're fine. No bites, no nothin'."

The man nodded and lowered his gun a significant amount. "Nelly, seach 'em," He said to a younger looking girl. She came up to us nervously and pat us down, finding my guns, knife, and Ellis' shotgun and axe. She brought them up to the man and he examined them. "These are nice guns, where'd you get 'em?" He asked more to Ellis than me.

"We found 'em in the safe houses that are along this way," Ellis answered.

The man nodded and said, "Name's Virgil, what about you two?"

"I'm Ellis and this is Layla," Ellis replied.

He nodded and said "She your sister?"

I said, "Oh no, we're together." Ellis looked at me and smiled warmly.

Virgil nodded again and explained how they were waiting for the helicopters to come back from their last drop off.

"So there really is a safe place?" I asked curiously.

"Hard to tell, but yeah, we're guessin'," Virgil said.

I nodded, but then Ellis spoke, "And how long you guys been waitin'?"

"'Bout an hour or so, it usually takes them 'bout an hour or two," Virgil explained. We nodded and he said, "Well, you two look tired. You can rest over there and we'll wake ya up when they get here," Virgil said. We thanked him and went to the place where he said to stay. It wasn't the most comfortable place, but it was better than nothing and before I knew it I was sleeping against Ellis.

Around dusk, Virgil woke us up excitedly, explaining how the helicopters were here. I woke Ellis up and we watched as the helicopters landed. I could tell something was wrong as soon as the "pilots" stepped out. They had bullet proof vests on and safety gear along with some assault rifles. They screamed at us to get down and put our hands on our heads. I panicked and thought about running, but then I say Ellis get down on his knees and put his hands over his head. I kneeled next him and heard the officers start to bark out orders. It was quiet until I heard the gunshots and crying.

I looked up and saw that the whole first row was now laying on their stomachs, obviously dead from the bullets to their heads. I panicked again and gripped Ellis' hand and pointed to the dead bodies. I saw his eyes get big and he looked frantically for a way to escape. I heard another round of gunshots and saw that the second row had also been shot. We were in the fifth row.

The officers started to creep towards the third row, but one brave soul dared to protest. I saw him spring up and try to save his wife and child from being shot, but he was just shoved back and shot. I saw his wife explode into emotions and the child started crying, who couldn't have been more than eight. However, that child was damn smart. He crawled away, apparently unnoticed and slipped around the little raised platform at the end of the roof. I hoped for his sake he got away.

The officers got to the fourth row and my breath hitched in my throat. I didn't want to die this way! I knew I couldn't do anything, so I just kept quiet and sobbed to myself, then I heard Ellis say something to me.

"Layla, don't be too sad. I mean, this isn't a bad way to die. Better them than those things out there," He said.

"What do you mean? Are you just giving up, Ellis?" I asked.

"Well, it's not like the world has anything to live for anymore, we'd be much happier dead," Ellis said.

"And how do you know that Ellis? Why do you keep talking like this?" I asked, my worries building inside me.

"You do what you want Layla, but I'm ending this nightmare," Ellis said, seeming to just shake me off. Ellis was crazy. This Infection had changed him more than I thought. It saddened me to see his face so hard, without a trace of happiness like it used to have. Ellis was giving up, so why shouldn't I too? So when the officers got to our row and told us to stand up and turn around, I wrapped my hand in Ellis' hand and squeezed. Of course he didn't squeeze back because I realized he was already dead on the inside. The officer came up behind me and I felt the cold barrel of the gun be forced close to my skull.

"One, Two, Ready!" I heard the head officer shout at the others. I felt tears stream down my face and I took my mother's ring out of my pocket. I kissed it and said, "I'll see you soon mommy." I watched as the ring dropped to my side in almost slow motion and heard the officer behind me cock the trigger and I heard the death word of "Fire!"


End file.
